Free printable

Sourdough starter checklist

Print this checklist Prints on one or two A4/Letter pages. Instructions: how to make a sourdough starter.

You need

• Clean glass jar, about 500 ml–1 L, straight-sided
• Digital kitchen scale
• Whole wheat or rye flour (first days), then white bread flour
• Water (let chlorinated tap water stand a few hours)
• Rubber band or marker for the rise
• A warm spot, ideally 24–27 °C (75–80 °F)

Feeding log

Feed 50 g starter + 50 g flour + 50 g water. Mark the level after each feed and note how high it rose.

Day	Time fed	Flour used	Temp	Rise (×)	Notes
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

Ready to bake when, for a few days in a row, it:

• Roughly doubles within about 4–8 hours of a feed
• Is bubbly all the way through
• Smells pleasantly sour or yeasty
• Rises predictably from one feed to the next

Watch for

• Days 3–6 go quiet: normal, keep feeding
• Grey liquid on top: hungry, feed it
• Pink, orange or fuzzy mould: discard and start again

thesourdoughbench.com/starter-checklist